Worlds away, Leonard Chase sat in his cell in Rikers. It had been a good day for him. He'd slept well the night before, he'd made nice with a handful of the prison gangs, he'd even flirted with one of the female guards. He was counting the minutes until the news would break that the star witness in his trafficking case was dead. They'd have to reveal it at some point. Maybe the eleven o'clock news? Maybe they'd play it close to their chest. No doubt that ADA in his tailored suits was scrambling. Leo would like to see that, the guy was such an arrogant prick.

Leonard raised his head as the pretty guard walked past his cell. She peered in, sneered, and hissed at him.

"You keeping to yourself, Chase?" Leonard stood up, went to the front of his cell and slammed his palms against the bars in an obvious display of threat. "Back off!" She barked, physically removing his hands from the bars and then pulling out her baton.

"I'm not looking for trouble." Leo spat, returning to his bunk as she walked away. His clenched fist relaxed, and he looked down at the crumpled piece of paper that had been passed to him when she had moved his hands. He read over the brief message and smirked. It had been done. That ADA really was in for a rough time. Today was a good day.

The detectives in the Special Victims Unit went about their business, ignoring the presence of the ADA. Rafael was practically a fixture there, no one was surprised to see him and in those minutes he was thankful for the afforded invisibility. Olivia had yet to surface from her office, but Detective Amaro had gone in and out a number of times. The look on his face told Rafael that Nick had been briefed on the current situation, but the detective said nothing.

He'd been hoping for a call, some excuse to get him out of there so at least he could feel like he was being productive. He wanted to go to the hospital - but he wouldn't be permitted to. Not until he was no longer a person of interest.

"Barba." The curt tone to Olivia's voice lifted Rafael's gaze. "Why don't we have a little chat." He had known Olivia and been around in the business long enough to know it wasn't a real request. He never responded nor hesitated, simply followed Olivia into one of the interview rooms in the same way that he had so many times before.

"You should have told me." She started. Rafael, again, stayed quiet. "You should have said that you were at the house sooner."

"I'm not really interested in being lectured, Sergeant." He spared her only a fleeting glance before sitting down. Liv, on the other hand, paced a few times before taking a seat. Clearly there was more that she wanted to say - Rafael didn't blame her, but he also didn't care at the moment. Tense quiet reigned before Olivia let out a frustrated sigh and moved forward.

"How did you meet Katherine Shepherd?" Rafael's eyes levelled with hers.

"I met her at an event for teachers. I was attending to support my mother, Katherine was there to talk about Special Education reform."

"And when did you start seeing each other?"

"We didn't." He said abruptly, looking back at the table. Olivia's raised eyebrows were visible in his peripheral vision. "Last night was the first time that…" He cleared his throat, and shifted in his seat before settling and fixing an even stare to Olivia. "That we had slept together." He didn't want to be discussing this. As a man that played his cards very close to his chest, this was far outside his comfort zone.

"Barba, you have to know how this looks." Liv toned, sounding weary and at the same time frustrated.

"I do."

"She was assaulted on the same night - that you're freely admitting was the first night that you were intimate. You don't have a relationship. She's young-"

"She's nearly thirty." Rafael clipped, feeling a bubble of indignation rise up inside him.

"You're in your forties."

"That's irrelevant."

"It's not, Barba. Not if we're talking about how this looks for you."

"I don't need consultation on how to handle my image, thanks." The sharpness of his response caused Liv to sit back. She set her jaw in irritation. "Do you have any more pertinent questions, or am I free to go? Have you even been able to interview her yet?" He knew that the answer was no, but he still held the hope that she had woken up, and maybe a field detective had gone to see her.

"The hospital hasn't contacted us to let us know that she's conscious." Liv pinched the bridge of her nose. The tension hung, like smoke in the room while Rafael watched Olivia switch between her clear irritation and what Rafael assumed was sympathy. The indignation ebbed, finally dissipating entirely to be replaced with a gentle ache; like skin that had been rubbed raw. The sensation sank into him, filled him with that dull, unavoidable discomfort. It smoothed the edges of his anger and cooled his own irritation.

"It wasn't just a one-off thing." When he finally spoke again, he had abandoned the levelled-gaze, the lawerly power-play.

"Barba, you just said-"

"I just mean - it wasn't just a one-night-stand. We knew each other, spent time together. It wasn't dating, but it's not like I picked her up at a bar either."

"You were friends." The title made his stomach sink. Yes, friends, he supposed they were. He didn't know when it had happened, but all the evidence pointed to it.

"I didn't do this, Liv." They both knew that, but saying it out loud still felt necessary. Despite knowing that their encounter was completely consensual, it didn't rule out the side of him that knew that a defense lawyer would cling to the fact that he had been there.

"I know." The door opened to the interview room, and Nick Amaro was poking his head in.

"Sorry to interrupt." He introduced himself, and genuine remorse seemed to cover his features.

"You're fine, Nick. We're done. What do you need?" Liv responded.

"It's Katherine Shephard. She's awake." This news immediately perked Olivia up, her whole posture changed and the fatigue disappeared from her expression. A glance passed between her and Rafael that spoke volumes. He knew that he couldn't go with her. He knew that she wished it was different, she knew that he understood but that it didn't make it better.

She left. Abruptly, and with nothing else to say to assuage the gnawing fear in the pit of Rafael's stomach. He had to find comfort enough himself.

She was awake, he repeated it in his mind, finding what little aid he could there. At least she was awake.